


when your black cat and space pollen don't mix

by discordiansamba



Series: when a black cat [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Gen, Werecat Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-03-17 13:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18966169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discordiansamba/pseuds/discordiansamba
Summary: While gathering antibiotic samples on the surface of a planet, Keith is exposed to something that has an... interesting effect on him.(or, local werecat meets space catnip)





	1. part one

**Author's Note:**

> It's a new installment! And it's two parts! I was going to write this all in one go, but about halfway through I realized it might make more sense to write this as a two-parter, rather than try and fit everything into one chapter and either end up with something rushed or something that was just really super long. Anyways, this takes place before _when there's stardust in your blood and bones_ , not long after they meet Ulaz, but before they go to Olkarion and Zarkon proceeds to chase them around the universe.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! I think this will be a fun one!

This was, Lance decided, the worst possible mission.

Not only was the jungle so oppressively hot and humid that he could feel it even through his paladin armor, but he was stuck here with _Keith_.

"Pick up the pace, Lance." Keith called out from up ahead. "You heard Coran. We need to get these samples before sunset."

Lance grumbled to himself, silently repeating Keith's words in a mocking tone underneath his breath. He didn't even looked bothered by all the vines and bugs, which swarmed around them in spite of their armor, and was just neatly picking his way through the jungle. He guessed it helped that he had a sword to clear a path, which he guessed benefited the guy behind him in turn, but would it kill him to slow down a little?

"What's so important about these samples anyways?" Lance called out, quickening his pace as much as he dared. The whole jungle floor was a mess of roots, just waiting to trip the unsuspecting. He had no idea how Keith was managing to navigate them so easily.

Must be a cat thing.

He huffed slightly at the thought. He still couldn't believe Keith was a _cat_. Even worse, he was _the_ cat- that damn black cat that had been such a thorn in his side back at the Garrison. He hadn't even _apologized_ for stealing his stuff! Sure, he'd always given it back after awhile- except for the food- but it was hard to believe that just one year out in the desert had caused him to forget him when he'd spent so much time tormenting him in feline form.

(Hunk would point out that Keith didn't even spend half as much time doing so as Lance seemed to think, but he'd brushed his friend off. He was _totally_ right.)

"Coran said they're used in salves and stuff." Keith noted, chopping away a tangle of vines. "Antibiotics, too. Healing pods can't cure the sick."

"Then why do we just need a sample?" Lance asked. "Shouldn't we just like... take a whole bunch of the stuff?"

Keith stopped, turning to look back at him. He took some comfort in the sweat that clung to his brow, plastering his bangs to his forehead. "Taking too much isn't good for the environment. Besides, with even just a single sample, Coran can use the Castle's systems to synthesize new stuff."

"How do you even know that?" Lance asked, using this chance to catch up with the werecat. Shifter. Whatever he wanted to call himself.

Keith stared blankly at him. Honestly, he had no idea how he hadn't realized he was the Garrison stray before. That deadpan look was totally the same.

(Also if werecats were real, then what _else_ was real? Were there vampires running around back on Earth? Unicorns? _Mermaids_? God, he hoped there were mermaids. _Please_ let there be mermaids. Sure, he'd found like, an entire _planet_ of mermaids now, but there was absolutely no downside to there being _more_ mermaids.)

"Coran told us." Keith said. "I thought you were listening."

"I listened!" Lance huffed. "I know what we're supposed to _find_ , at least."

Keith didn't look convinced. "Just stay close. We don't want to get separated."

"Yeah, that'd be just _terrible_." Lance said, rolling his eyes. Getting a break from Keith and his awful mullet sounded like the best idea he'd heard all day.

"I mean it, Lance." Keith said, actually picking up on his sarcasm for once. "You heard Coran. There's dangerous animals living in this jungle. We don't want to have to fight one alone."

Lance just groaned, but followed behind Keith at a slightly quicker pace nonetheless. It felt like forever until they found the first of the flowers that they needed to collect samples from. Some kind of pollen that was useful for... something, he guessed. He hadn't _exactly_ been paying attention to the specifics. All he knew was that Hunk and Pidge got to go back to the mer planet, while he was stuck in this godforsaken jungle with _Keith_.

Heck, he'd rather take being stuck on the Castle. There's where Shiro and Allura were, working out exactly how Ulaz had managed to infiltrate the Castle and shutting that hole in their security down. Things had been a little tense between them ever since... well, since Ulaz, but at least they had Coran there to help bridge the gap.

"Be careful." Keith warned him. "We don't want this thing blasting pollen everywhere."

Lance's nose crinkled in disgust. For once, he actually agreed with Keith- being coated in pollen by some weird space flower did _not_ sound like his idea of a fun time.

"And what will you be doing?" Lance asked, already pulling out one of the tiny vials Coran had given him. "You just going to stand around and look pretty while I do all the work?"

Keith frowned, staring blankly at him. "I'm standing guard."

"I could stand guard." Lance said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm kind of a sharpshooter."

Keith just rolled his eyes. "I have better hearing. That makes me the better lookout."

"Right. Almost forgot you're a cat." Lance said.

Keith's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything to dispute him. For his part, Lance begrudgingly accepted that he had a point- between the two of them, Keith did make the better lookout. It was so weird to think about the fact that someone he had always just reasonably assumed was human was actually _part cat_ , or however the whole Shifter thing worked. There had only been a few scant appearance of cat Keith since the whole revelation had gone down, so it wasn't like he knew much about it. In spite of Keith's promises that he would answer any questions, he'd been pretty tight-lipped on how it all worked, pretending instead that he didn't know half the answers to Pidge's questions.

Pushing the thought aside, Lance concentrated on extracting the pollen. There were four other samples they needed to collect after this, so he just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. He still took the utmost care in getting it, because again, being coated in pollen for the rest of their trip here just sounded _awful_.

Scraping a few particles of the pollen into the little vial, Lance waited until after he'd corked it to exhale. Tucking it away, he turned back towards Keith. "Okay, so that's one down. Now where's-?"

He paused mid-question, noticing the hard look in Keith's eyes. He was staring off into the distance, looking so serious that Lance couldn't even manage to laugh at the way his nose was twitching. "What is it?"

"Something's out there." Keith said, his grip on his bayard sword tightening. "Something big."

Instinctively, Lance summoned his bayard. Training his rifle in the direction Keith's gaze was fixed on, he narrowed his eyes, trying to pick out whatever it was that he was looking at. It all just seemed like a lot of green to him.

But he _could_ hear something.

True to form, Keith heard it a lot sooner than he did, already shifting into a defensive stance. Seconds later, something massive- and _green_ , Lance noted with mild annoyance- burst through the bushes, charging straight towards them. Lance's first shot bounced off its thick hide, barely leaving him with enough time to jump out of the way.

He wasn't sure _what_ he was looking at. It looked almost like a massive lizard, but its legs and hind quarters were coated with a thick layer of green fur, and it had a huge pair of curved horns. It had six eyes- two large ones and two sets of smaller ones, and wicked looking claws- but the thing that really sent a shiver up Lance's spine were the massive fangs, and the mouth that unhinged slightly as it turned towards him. Suddenly struck by the fear that the thing intended to swallow him whole, Lance hastily got to his feet.

"Hey!" A shout drew the lizard-thing's attention away from him. "Over here!"

Keith was glaring at the lizard-thing from the other side, and if he strained his ears, Lance swore he could pick up on what sounded like a low growl coming from the red paladin's throat. His eyes looked different, more cat-like, and somehow he didn't think it was just due to a trick of the light. Keith had his blade angled at the creature, showing no signs of fear as it turned towards him with clear intentions of making another charge.

Which was exactly what it did. It hurled itself towards Keith, jaws unhinged. Keith was faster, ducking out of the way- and at the same time, slashing at its thick hide with his bayard. It was slightly more effective than Lance's rifle had been, but all it seemed to do was irritate the creature- which was definitely already irritated as it was.

Keith growled, the sound more animalistic than anything a human could produce. But then, Keith wasn't exactly _human_.

The creature charged towards Keith again, and though he evaded it a second time, apparently it had accounted for that. Keith, on the other hand, hadn't accounted for its absolutely massive clubbed tail, blindsided by it. He slammed into a nearby tree with enough force to shatter his helmet, kicking up a cloud of pollen from the nearby flower.

Keith coughed, breathing in a gasp of the planet's air. Lance momentarily panicked, before he recalled the main reason that Coran had advised them to keep their helmets on was just because of the bugs, and not because the atmosphere wasn't breathable or something like that. Keith staggered to his feet, glaring at the lizard-thing- ready for another counterattack in spite of the massive blow he'd taken mere seconds ago.

Then he just... went _limp_.

There was no other word to describe it. Keith's eyes blew out wide, like someone had dilated them. His grip on his sword grew lax, every ounce of coiled tension in his body disappearing in the blink of an eye. His nose was twitching, but Lance couldn't make fun of it now either, not when there was a horrible death creature slowly approaching the now apparently incapacitated Keith. Dimly, Lance recalled that Coran had used the results he'd gotten from the scans he'd taken of him and Shiro while they had been in the healing pods to deem if the planet's atmosphere was safe for them, and was struck by the sudden realization that safe for them didn't necessarily mean safe for _Keith_.

It was such a glaring oversight that Lance nearly would have kicked himself, if the situation weren't so serious. He had to get that thing away from Keith before it decided to make a meal out of his bony, half-feline ass.

"Hey!" Lance called out, firing a shot to taunt the creature into looking his way. "Over here, ugly! I bet Keith doesn't even taste good!"

The lizard-thing made an ungodly noise as it turned towards him. Lance paled, suddenly regretting every single decision he had made in life that had led him to this point. His bayard had already proved ineffective against its hide, so what was he even going to do?

As the creature partially unhinged it's jaw, preparing for another charge, something clicked. Maybe he couldn't damage its hide, but that wasn't the _only_ way to take something down. And the creature just so happened to provide him with the perfect angle of attack.

At least, he hoped. If he were wrong...

Well, if he was wrong, then both he and Keith were about to become lizard chow.

Bracing himself, Lance took in a deep breath. As as the lizard-thing prepared to charge, Lance readied his bayard. Aiming not for the creatures hide, he instead fired three shots, straight into its mouth- and where it was hard on the outside, it was anything but on the inside. The creature collapsed, letting out an awful death shriek, before finally succumbing.

Exhaling, Lance slowly lowered his bayard, his hands shaking. He couldn't believe that actually _worked_.

Snapping out of it, he turned back towards Keith. The red paladin seemed to be completely out of it- he was more interested in the flower than he was in the horrible death monster that had nearly tried to kill them both. And judging from the sound of the shrieks he could make out in the distance, if they didn't get out of here fast, there were going to be even _more_ of them.

No thanks. That was a hard pass from him.

"Keith, buddy," Lance slowly began, edging around the creature on the off chance that it was somehow actually still alive, "-we need to go."

Keith didn't acknowledge him, causing Lance to swear underneath his breath. Dismissing his bayard, he closed the gap between them, crouching down next to Keith. He was staring up at the flower like it was the most interesting thing in the world, his eyes mostly pupil- and kind of yellow? Not like Galra yellow, but-

-cat yellow. They were _cat_ yellow.

Okay. Definitely a werecat thing then.

Regardless, they had to leave- _now_. The rest of the samples could wait, at least until he got Keith back to the Castle so Coran could (hopefully) figure out what was wrong with him. Not waiting for an invitation, Lance hoisted Keith over his shoulder, almost buckling under his weight.

"Wow, you are _way_ heavier than you look." Lance observed.

All Keith had to say in response to that was an odd chirruping sound. Glancing behind him, he watched as the red paladin lazily tried to reach out towards the flower, his hands just brushing against one of its massive petals.

Okay. Weird. Not going to stop him from getting the hell out of here though.

Switching to a fireman's carry, Lance began to walk as quickly away from the area as he could manage with Keith on his back. He didn't get that far before Keith started to wriggle in his grip, producing a noise that he could only describe as pathetic. The further they moved away from the flower, the worse it seemed to get.

"What is it _with_ you and that damn flower?" Lance snapped, momentarily losing his temper. "The stupid thing spewed it's pollen all over you, and you-!"

Snapping his mouth shut, something finally clicked into place. Keith wasn't acting weird because of this planet's atmosphere. He was acting weird because of the _pollen_.

"Oh man," Lance whispered, unable to keep the edge of amusement out of his voice, "-it's _catnip_. It's _space catnip_."

Before he had a chance to really enjoy that realization, he heard that ungodly shrieking sound again- closer than before this time. He could revel in the fact that there was space catnip later. Right now, he just had to get them both the heck out of here.

And _fast_ \- a lot faster than he could go carrying Keith on his back.

Thankfully, he had an idea. Setting Keith down, he popped open the cork on the little vial he'd filled with pollen earlier. Keith perked up, his nose twitching as he caught the scent of it, making another one of those weird _chirruping_ noises.

"You want this?" Lance asked, unable to keep himself from grinning.

Keith chirruped again, staring up at him with wide eyes. Lance took a few steps back, and Keith followed, his gaze never leaving the vial. He moved on all fours, the curvature of his spine seemingly having shifted in tandem with his limbs to make the movement easier. His hands and feet seemed to have slightly changed shape underneath his paladin armor, and he realized that there was a tail flicking behind him. It was almost like he had tried to transform into a cat, and had gotten stuck halfway.

Lance chose not to process this- not yet. Instead, he took a few more experimental steps back, and when Keith followed him still, he corked the vial- couldn't spill their only sample- and took a few more. Keith still followed him, his gaze still fixed on the vial, and the promise of whatever was contained within.

"Come on mullet," Lance grinned, giving the vial a playful little shake, "-if you want it, you have to come get it."

Upon saying that, Lance broke into a sprint. Glancing behind him to confirm that Keith was following behind him, Lance swore under his breath. He was following behind him alright- and he looked _pissed_.

* * *

By the time they reached the blue lion, Lance was out of breath and Keith was still out of his mind. He'd been hoping that the effects of the pollen would start to wear off the further they got away from the flower, but it just didn't seem like luck was on his side today. Maybe it was just because half of what it had emitted earlier was still stuck to Keith's armor, or maybe it was something more complicated than that. He didn't know. All he knew was that he was glad to be out of that damn jungle, away from the horrible death lizards.

At least Keith was behaving now. For a second Lance thought he was going to try and maul him, but he'd calmed down once he had given him one of the empty vials to bat around. He'd let him into the cockpit, too worried about what his pollen-addled brain would get him into if he left him in one of the cargo holds. Right now he was busy licking the pollen off his armor, which _definitely_ couldn't be good for him, but every time Lance tried to stop him, he hissed and flashed what were definitely claws at him.

Groaning, Lance sunk into the pilot's chair. He was just grateful he'd won at rock paper scissors earlier, so they had come here in the blue lion. He was pretty sure the red lion could fly itself in the event of an emergency, but he didn't want to test that out for himself.

He briefly considered paging the Castle of Lions, but quickly dismissed it. Maybe this would all wear off by the time he reached the Castle.

(It didn't.)

* * *

Shiro had no idea what to expect when Lance had asked for his help getting Keith out of the blue lion, but it wasn't this.

"So he's been like this since...?"

"Since before we left the planet, yeah." Lance told him. "I thought it would wear off by the time we got here, but..."

His gaze trailed downwards, falling on Keith. The Shifter had all but tackled him off his feet no sooner than he had entered, and though he had since gotten off of him, he had yowled loudly until Shiro crouched down next to him. After that, he'd shoved his chin underneath his hand, yowling some more until Shiro began to scratch it, and was now content to purr happily, his eyes closed as his tail wagged in response.

It wasn't the tail wagging that surprised him. That was normal- for Keith, at least- probably due to the fact that for a portion of his life, he'd been raised by a wolf. What _was_ new was... well, everything else.

Despite the more feline behavior- tail-wagging aside- Keith was still human, for one thing, or well... _mostly_. His human ears were gone, replaced with a large pair of black cat ears, along with the aforementioned tail. It was hard to tell with his paladin armor still on, but Shiro was pretty sure that both his hands and feet had become more paw-like, but he was otherwise almost entirely human.

But even if he _was_ fully a cat, this sort of behavior wasn't exactly normal for him. Keith _would_ sometimes let his guard down and allow people to pet him, but they were typically people who didn't realize what they had in their laps wasn't a normal cat. With people who knew? He'd indulge it a little, particularly if he was in a low mood and looking for a bit of comfort, but otherwise he kept his distance. In spite of having allowed Hunk to pet him before, now that he knew the truth, Keith had shrugged off any attempts at affection in his feline form from him- and the rest of the paladins, for that matter.

The only time Keith had ever behaved anywhere close to this was that time Adam had accidentally given him that catnip tea. He'd been out of it for _hours_ afterwards, completely given over to his more feline instincts. He was guessing that was the case here too.

"Okay," Shiro exhaled, "-okay. We'll figure this out."

Keith huffed as Shiro stood up, his lips set in his usual scowl. His tail flicked angrily behind him, clearly upset that Shiro had stopped scratching him. He felt a little ridiculous doing it when Keith still looked so human, but he still felt a pang of guilt over having stopped.

They _had_ to find a way to fix this.

"Coran," Shiro said slowly, "-we need to talk to Coran. _Please_ tell me you got that sample."

"It was the only sample we managed to get, but yeah, we got it." Lance told him. "Plus there's the stuff that's still on Keith's armor. You know, where he didn't manage to lick it off."

Shiro stared blankly at the blue paladin. "He ate it."

"I couldn't stop him!" Lance protested. "Every time I tried, he got all angry and hissed at me!"

Heaving a long sigh, Shiro rubbed his forehead. This wasn't what he expected to have to deal with today, but hopefully they would be able to find a way to fix this. Or maybe it would just wear off like the catnip tea did- though somehow he suspected that this might take a lot longer than a few hours, depending just how much pollen Keith had been exposed to- and exactly how much of it he'd _eaten_.

"I'll take Keith with me to the med bay." Shiro finally said. "You find Coran and bring him to meet us there."

"You think he can fix this?" Lance asked.

"I don't know." Shiro shook his head. "The last time he got into catnip..."

"Wait, Keith's gotten into catnip before?" Lance asked. "Like, _actual_ catnip and not space catnip?"

"Yes, Lance." Shiro said dryly. "And no, I'm not going to give you any of the details. Keith's going to be embarrassed enough when he comes back to his senses, I'm not adding anything else to that."

Lance huffed slightly. "Fine, I guess you're right. I'll go find Coran."

"Thank you." Shiro told him, watching as Lance trudged out of the blue lion.

Keith watched him go, tilting his head slightly as he left. Blinking slowly, he stared back up at him, his earlier annoyance presumably forgotten.

Crouching down, Shiro managed a weak smile. "Hey, buddy. Think you can come with me to see Coran?"

Keith trilled, butting his chin with his head. It would have been adorable if he were an actual cat, but as it was, it was just kind of embarrassing. Heaving a sigh, Shiro idly scratched behind one of his newly sprouted ears.

"You don't understand a thing I'm saying, do you?" Shiro asked.

Keith just purred in response, more out of happiness from getting his ears scratched than any semblance of comprehension. His feline instincts seemed to be in complete control, no semblance of his usual human intelligence present.

Thankfully, when he stood up to leave, Keith followed him, trailing behind on all fours. Maybe it was just his posture, but Shiro swore he looked a little smaller. They arrived in the med bay around the same time Lance and Coran reached it- and Allura, he noted, the princess trailing behind the advisor.

At the sight of them, Keith hissed, ducking behind Shiro's legs. Shiro frowned, glancing down at him in confusion. "It's okay, it's just Coran and Allura. They're friends."

Keith still hissed, going so far as to try and take a swipe at Coran when he tried to come closer. Thankfully, the advisor quickly backed off.

"I'm sorry." Shiro quickly apologized. "I don't know why he's doing this. _Any_ of this, really."

"No harm done." Coran said, looking largely unbothered by the reaction he'd gotten. "It may very well be that he's just not used to our scents."

"I must admit, when Lance came to tell us the news, I thought he was exaggerating." Allura frowned. "Clearly not."

"I've seen him like this once before." Shiro began, giving Lance a hard look. He got the message, handing Coran the sample of pollen before he quickly made himself scarce. "Except that time he turned all the way into a cat. His behavior's pretty much the same, though."

"Let's see if we can't get Number Four inside, and give him a look over." Coran said. "Hopefully we'll be able to figure out just how badly the pollen's effected him."

"Lance also mentioned he may have eaten some." Shiro supplied weakly.

Coran's brows shot up. "That will definitely complicate matters. Ingested substances tend to be far more potent than those that have simply been inhaled."

"Why in the world would he _eat_ some?" Allura asked, crinkling her nose in visible disgust.

"He's pretty out of it." Shiro explained. Behind him, Keith's ears flattened, hissing loudly at Allura. "He tried to do the same thing the last time he got into a similar substance. Thankfully it had been diluted into a tea, so the effects only lasted for a few hours."

"I don't suppose you have a sample of this... _catnip_ , I believe Lance called it?" Coran asked, to which Shiro shook his head. "Ah, well. I didn't think you would. Still, at least we have a sample of the pollen that was the cause of all of this."

"Let us hope it will be enough." Allura remarked, staring down warily at Keith. "You don't suppose he bites, do you?"

"If he does, you and Coran are probably the safest." Shiro observed.

Coran and Allura shared a look. He knew that Keith had given the Alteans a quick medical briefing on Shifters, and that had included the particular properties of his saliva. Normally Keith knew better than to bite- when he wanted to express his displeasure, he'd usually resort to scratching instead. But he had no idea if the current Keith had any of the same holdups, or if he was even aware of who and _what_ he was.

He certainly seemed to recognize _him_ at least, Shiro thought.

"Well, let's get him in, take a look." Coran said, striding into the med bay. After a moment of hesitation, Shiro followed him, Keith trailing along behind him. He kept casting a wary look back towards Allura, who merely remained where she was, hovering by the doorway.

"He doesn't seem to like me." Allura observed.

"Nonsense!" Coran assured her. "I think it's both of us he doesn't like, not just you, princess!"

As if to give proof of this, Coran reached a hand out towards Keith. He hissed and swatted it away, his tail standing at full alert. Shiro was almost positive that underneath his armor, Keith's fur was standing on end.

"Still," Allura's frown deepened, "-how exactly are you supposed to examine him if he won't let you anywhere near him?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll work it out!" Coran said easily enough. "Worst comes to worst, we can get Shiro here to hold him for us long enough for me to get a blood sample. Probably need to do a scan too, just to make sure there's no lasting damage from being hit by the tail of a _gudit_. Those beasts can hit quite hard!"

"Well what should I do?" Allura asked.

"Guard the exit." Coran told her. "Make sure he doesn't slip away."

* * *

Unfortunately, Coran was right, on both counts.

He _did_ have to try and wrangle Keith, and he _did_ try to escape. He spent the entire time yowling, thrashing against Shiro's grip. Both he and Coran were sporting some new scratches, but thankfully Keith had refrained from biting anyone. He'd used his right arm to restrain Keith as a precaution anyways. Being a Shifter didn't sound terrible- except for the part where he had no idea how it would work with the metal arm- it was the possibility of _death_ he was more worried about.

As soon as he gave Keith some slack, he'd bolted, barreling past Allura and out of the med bay. He moved to chase after him, but Allura told him it would be better to leave him be for the time being- she'd locked off any potentially dangerous parts of the Castle already. The worst he could do was make a mess out of the kitchen or shred a few sheets.

"Well, the good news is that the effect _should_ wear off on its own." Coran told him. "The bad news is that it might take awhile."

"How long is awhile?" Shiro asked.

"Oh, about a quintant or two, give or take. Not too terribly long, thankfully." Coran said, to which Shiro let out a breath of relief. "It's impossible to say exactly how much of the pollen he ingested. We could try to pump his stomach, but..."

Shiro shook his head. "I don't think we'll even be able to get him back into the med bay after this."

"No, I thought not." Coran agreed. "In the meantime, all we can do is ensure that he feels safe and comfortable."

"Of which we already off to a great start." Allura quipped.

Shiro winced. "Can we at least track where he is?"

"So long as he still has his armor on." Allura told him, already bringing up a screen. There was a single red dot indicating what was presumably Keith's current location. "From the look of it, he's retreated to his quarters... or rather, just outside of them."

"That would indicate that he has _some_ kind of recollection of both where and _who_ he is." Coran mused, toying with one end of his mustache. "Though perhaps not necessarily the intelligence with which to actually open the doors, if he isn't actually _in_ the room already."

"I should be able to open it remotely." Allura said. "Perhaps he will calm down a bit in a location that's a little more familiar to him."

"Do it." Shiro told her.

Allura tapped the screen, and a second later, the red dot moved forward slightly. Guess Keith really _hadn't_ been able to figure out how to open the doors.

"We should probably brief Hunk and Pidge when they get back." Shiro said. "What's their ETA?"

"Their mission shouldn't take longer than a few more vargas." Coran replied. "I could even contact them now if you like, ask them to come back to the Castle."

Shiro shook his head. "Let them finish their mission first. The situation's not _that_ urgent."

Just weird. Now that he'd been reassured of the fact that the effects of the pollen would wear off, Shiro was able to fully appreciate just how _weird_ the situation was. It was one thing to know that Keith was a Shifter, that he was capable of turning into a cat, but another to see his brother lost to his more feline instincts- while simultaneously not quite being fully feline.

He suddenly wished he knew more about Shifters. Maybe if he did, he would know exactly why this was happening.

It wasn't that he'd never _asked_ \- it had more to do with the fact that Keith just didn't know. His father was the only other Shifter Keith had really known, and once he was gone, there was nobody left to teach him. He'd vaguely hinted at the fact that there were other Shifters at the Garrison, though he had never elaborated on _who_ , but somehow he suspected that Keith was too embarrassed to ask them any questions he might have.

From the sound of it, Keith had a Shifter clan out there somewhere, but they wanted nothing to do with him. He never complained about it- in fact, he barely ever talked about it, but sometimes Shiro suspected that the rejection had created a hole in his life, one that he and Adam had never quite managed to fill.

"We should probably be a bit more careful in the future." Allura mused. "This pollen is one thing, but we mustn't overlook the possibility that there could be entire planetary atmospheres that might be toxic to Keith and not the rest of you."

Inwardly, Shiro winced. Allura had a point- just because Keith (usually) looked human, it didn't mean that he actually _was_. This pollen incident was proof enough of that.

"I can do a scan of him, if you like!" Coran suggested. "Like I did with Lance and Shiro."

"Good idea." Shiro agreed. "But it should probably wait until _after_ the effects of the pollen have faded. I don't want to spook him any more than we already have."

"Putting it mildly." Allura mumbled. "I still don't understand why he reacted that way to Coran and I. Did we do something wrong?"

"I don't think it's about anything you did _wrong_ , princess." Shiro assured her. "I think Keith's just overwhelmed. This is probably a lot for him to process."

"I suppose you are correct." Allura said, though her frown didn't fade. Guess the rejection was really getting to her.

"I should probably go keep an eye on him." Shiro said.

"Yes, of course." Allura nodded. "Let us know if anything changes."

"Will do." Shiro promised, ducking out of the med bay and making his way towards the residential floors. Once he got off the elevator, he tried to move as silently as possible, creeping down the hallway. The door to Keith's room was still open, presumably because he didn't know how to close it, Allura having likely opted to leave it open so that he didn't feel trapped.

"Keith?" Shiro softly called out. "You in there?"

There was a faint hiss from the bed, a single yellow eye peeking out from underneath the covers. Keith had curled himself up inside of them, protectively shielding himself from the outside world. Shiro huffed slightly- he looked ridiculous, and the fact that he was still half wearing his armor didn't help. They had stripped him of the upper plate and his gauntlets, but he was still wearing the lower half of it. If it bothered him, he didn't show it.

"It's okay." Shiro assured him. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Keith frowned, but the hissing stopped. Shiro smiled at him, edging into the room, making sure to keep his hands visible. Keith watched them warily, like he expected him to reach out and drag him out from underneath his blankets any second now. Clearly he'd deeply betrayed his trust.

"I'm just going to sit here." Shiro told him, taking a seat along the wall. "I'm not sure how much of what's going on you understand, but you're really not in a state where you should be left alone for long."

Keith huffed slightly, looking away from him. He didn't emerge from his blanket cocoon, but he could still sort of see him. After a few minutes, he yawned loudly, curling deeper up into them, all but vanishing into the cocoon save for a dark-colored ear and a tuft of black hair. Not even a minute later, Shiro picked up on the sound of his steady breathing, and realized that he had fallen asleep.

Silently chuckling, Shiro shook his head. It figured Keith would be exhausted after the day he'd had. Folding his arms in front of him, Shiro leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. He was feeling pretty tired too. Maybe a nap wasn't such a bad idea.

Who knew? Maybe when he woke up, Keith would be better. He doubted it, but it never hurt to try and think positively.

Exhaling, Shiro relaxed his shoulders. If he got better, that was fine. If not... well, he'd just have to figure out the best way to handle the next two days or so. Keith was just essentially a weird, oversized house cat at the moment. He could handle that, right?


	2. part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pulling out the laser pointer, Lance smirked, switching it on. A blue dot- because apparently Alteans were just as attached to the color blue as the Galra were to the color purple- appeared where he aimed it, just a few inches shy of Keith's current resting place. Giving it a tentative wiggle, he watched as Keith's eyes followed the dot, the tip of his tail twitching slightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the second part! In which Keith makes a total mess of himself and later vows never to do drugs again. Don't know when I'll update this story next, but I have a few other ideas for installments, including something with Krolia and something with Regris. We'll see where I go from here!

"Do I even want to know how you got yourself into this mess?"

All Keith had to offer her in response was a pitiful sounding meow. Heaving a sigh, Pidge hung her head, longingly looking back towards her latest experiment. She had finally been on the verge of making a breakthrough when Keith had started to make a fuss, and all too late, she realized why he had been so quiet for the past half hour.

She should have known it was too good to be true.

"No offense Keith," Pidge began, staring down at him, "-but I think that pollen has knocked your IQ down to below even _Lance's_ level."

Keith had nothing to say in his defense, instead just staring at her with yellow, cat-like eyes. She was positive he didn't understand her right now, so that didn't exactly come as much of a surprise. What _did_ come as a surprise was just how badly he had managed to get himself tangled up- _maybe_ bringing him with her to her lab _hadn't_ been her best idea.

Grumbling, she began the arduous task of untangling her fellow paladin. Fortunately he hadn't managed to tangle himself up in a way that looked dangerous, so she could take her time with the task. Keith wriggled in his self-imposed bonds, producing another, equally pitiful meow.

"This would be a lot easier if you would just _stay still_." Pidge snapped, causing Keith to freeze, his ears going flat against his head. Maybe he didn't understand what was being said, but he did at least understand the tone with which it was being said.

It was just her luck that she would be the one stuck with the first shift. Shiro had wanted to take full responsibility for watching over Keith while he was in this state, but they had managed to talk him out of it. If Coran's estimation of two days was correct, then he was going to need a break at some point- it just made more sense for them to watch him in shifts.

"I still can't believe you managed to find _space catnip_." Pidge said.

Keith just chirruped in response, staring at her almost pathetically. She couldn't get used to how differently he was acting from his normal self- typically Keith was more distant, almost aloof. At first she thought he'd just been keeping his distance because of his secret, but even after they all learned the truth, he still gave off something of a loner vibe.

And now here he was, acting like somebody's idiot cat.

Ugh. He was _their_ idiot cat, she realized.

"You know," Pidge began, continuing to talk to him even though she knew full well he didn't understand a word she was saying, "-this would be a lot cuter if you were an _actual_ cat."

Keith yowled, squirming in his bonds again, much to her annoyance.

"Right." Pidge huffed. "You probably think you _are_ an actual cat."

Keith's ears flicked in response, before he slumped against the floor. At least he'd stopped squirming, she thought, taking the chance to make as much progress as she could, even if his heavy limbs made it hard for her to get the wires free.

Part of her was fascinated- not just with Keith's severe reaction to the pollen, but also how his body had adapted to more feline features while still largely maintaining a human appearance. She hadn't even known he could do that- she'd assumed it was either one form or the other, claws not withstanding. But unless this was just a result of the pollen too, it didn't seem like that was the case.

Not to sound too much like some kind of weird mad scientist, but frankly Keith in general was just plain fascinating. She couldn't decide if he was an entirely new (or new to _her_ , at least) species, or if he was somehow a combination of two already existing ones. Was he a human who could turn into a cat, or a cat who could turn into a human, or something somewhere in between? And the fact that there were even _more_ of these Shifters back on Earth? Shifters who had been there for generations, possibly for as long- or maybe even _longer_ \- than humans? How could she _not_ be interested?

She wasn't too ashamed to admit that she had barraged Keith with questions after his secret had come out. Probably too many questions, since at some point, Keith had clammed up, pretending like he didn't know the answers to them. She'd been miffed at first, but once she calmed down a little and examined her behavior, she realized that she'd probably been a little _too_ enthusiastic about her inquiries.

And okay, to be fair, she'd realized that only _after_ Shiro had pulled her aside and talked to her about it. But still!

"You know," Pidge began, "-maybe if you had answered my questions more honestly, we could have figured out that there might be a space equivalent of catnip sooner."

Keith just huffed, turning his head. He squished one of his ears in doing so, but he didn't seem too bothered by it. Frowning, Pidge took a break from wire duty to poke the end of one, the black furred ear flicking at her touch.

"Where did your human ears even go?" Pidge asked.

Keith just uselessly meowed, shifting his head so that it was practically in her hand, his current dilemma of being tangled up in wires seemingly forgotten. Pidge just arched a brow- thus far she had avoided the temptation of petting him, on account of the fact that this was _still_ Keith, and the idea of stroking one of her fellow paladins was just super weird to her. Besides, she was more of a dog person anyways.

But man, that ear was _soft_.

And well... he _was_ kind of asking for it, wasn't he? Obviously he _wanted_ to be stroked.

"Maybe just a little." Pidge muttered to absolutely no one.

Tentatively, she scratched Keith's ear, right where the base of it met his skull. She convinced herself that she was doing this for science- the fact that Keith could shift into this weird halfway form only added to the growing list of questions that she had about Shifters. All she was doing was trying to find out more.

Keith shut his eyes, purring loudly as his expression transformed into one of pure contentment. And if Pidge was going to be perfectly honest...

"Okay," Pidge softly conceded, "-maybe you're a _little_ cute."

Keith peeked one eye open, tilting his head towards her questioningly, like he wanted to know why she had stopped. Glancing behind her, she checked to see if anyone was around, before she reached out, scratching the base of his ear some more. Delighted by this, Keith purred even louder, sounding like he had a little motor somewhere in his chest.

And Pidge? Pidge was not that strong.

By the time Shiro came to collect Keith for the next shift, she had her hands buried in his hair, and was scratching his head without hesitation.

"Uh, Pidge?" Shiro's voice snapped her back to reality, her cheeks turning a deep shade of crimson. "Is there any reason Keith's tangled up in wires?"

Snatching her hands back from his head, Pidge ignored Keith's yowls of protest, springing to her feet. "I was just- I was just getting around to freeing him!"

"I can see that." Shiro just arched a brow. "You do know he's going to remember all of this when he goes back to normal."

Pidge's flush deepened. "He is?"

Shiro just nodded.

Never before had she felt more tempted to just throw herself out the airlock. Giving into temptation and scratching Keith's head was one thing, but she'd called him _cute_.

And he was going to _remember that_.

"How about I just help you get Keith untangled, and we never talk about this again?" Shiro asked.

"Deal." Pidge said quickly.

* * *

Hunk, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to pet Keith at all.

He knew he probably should. Keith was completely out of his mind, so he should probably hesitate at least a little before taking advantage of that fact. But look- it had been way too long since he'd had something soft and fluffy to pet, and the realization that Keith had been Blackie all along had done nothing to quell his desire to pet said cat.

Only said cat no longer wanted anything to do with him.

He got it, he did. He'd been under the impression that Blackie- _Keith_ \- had been you know, a normal cat. But no, no, turned out he'd actually been one of his fellow cadets all along. And not just any cadet either! Nope, he was the same cadet that Lance had zeroed in on since like, day one and declared his rival. Which, honestly he knew he should be a little more weirded out by, but after a few days of flustered half-avoidance, he'd pretty much decided that he didn't actually care all that much.

Look, Hunk was a weak man. If he saw something soft and fluffy, he wanted to pet it. That was just how things went. It was the natural order of things!

But ever since he'd found out that Blackie wasn't Blackie, Keith was no longer inclined to let him pet him, not even a little. And Hunk? Hunk was never one to take animal rejection well. He'd mourned, complaining to Lance about it on more than a few occasions, even if all he got in return was an odd look from his friend.

Honestly, this whole space catnip thing? A blessing in disguise.

You know, for him. Probably not so much for Keith. And it wasn't that he didn't feel sorry for him, it was just...

...look, he could make as many excuses as he wanted, but at the end of the day, all Hunk wanted to do was pet a cat. Even if said cat wasn't _really_ a cat. Even if said cat didn't _look_ like a cat- or at least, didn't look all the way like a cat.

The baby talk was just habit.

"Who's a good kitty?" Hunk crooned, beaming as he dug his hands into Keith's _incredibly_ fluffy hair. "It's you, that's who!"

Keith purred like a motorboat, an expression of pure contentment on his face. In Hunk's defense, he'd been the one to approach him first. And what was he, some kind of monster? He'd have to be if he was willing to deny a cat begging for scratches.

Pidge just stared at him blankly from her perch on the kitchen stool. She'd followed Keith and Shiro in here, though in reality she had probably been dragged here by Shiro so that she didn't end up skipping a meal again. She did that sometimes when she got too engrossed in her work. Usually Hunk would just bring food to her, but this worked too.

"You know he's going to remember all this once he's back to normal, right?" She asked.

"I've come to terms with that." Hunk said simply. "Trust me, it's worth it."

Pidge just arched a brow, the faintest of tint to her cheeks that suggested that maybe she had given into temptation too. "If you say so."

"I do." Hunk said. "Besides, this could be good for Keith. I mean, not the whole _losing his marbles_ part-"

"-not to mention several IQ points." Pidge chimed in.

"-but I can't be the only one who's noticed how tense Keith has been lately. He's been super moody ever since the whole Ulaz thing." Hunk finished, largely ignoring Pidge's interruption. Cat Keith wasn't stupid, he just had a different kind of intelligence from normal Keith, that was all. The fact that his brain was responding to his feline instincts yet his body was still largely human probably didn't help matters much.

The extent to which it _had_ adjusted was honestly fascinating. Shiro had managed to get him out of his armor and back into his day to day clothes somehow. Or well, close enough- there was no jacket because the stiff leather that it was made of wouldn't work well considering the fact that his arms had essentially altered their structure enough to serve as forelegs, and no boots because there was no way they would fit over his pseudo-paws. Which, by the way, were _also_ covered in a thick layer of fluffy black fur. His pants were actually the Altean equivalent of sweatpants, to allow for the altered structure of his legs. So really, the only thing Keith was wearing that actually belonged to him was his shirt- and presumably his boxers.

(At least, Hunk hoped. Keith deserved _some_ dignity.)

The running theory was that because this was _space_ catnip, and not regular catnip, some of Keith's wires had gotten crossed. Hence the partial transformation instead of the full one that Shiro had said happened the last time Keith had been exposed to the regular, Earth-bound stuff.

"He _does_ seem more relaxed now." Pidge admitted.

"That's what I'm saying." Hunk said. "Who knows? Maybe Coran can find a way to dilute this stuff. Could be good for him."

"Are you implying Keith needs to be drugged in order to relax?" Pidge asked.

"No!" Hunk protested, even though yeah, that _was_ kind of what it sounded like. He couldn't deny that. "I'm just saying all that tension isn't good for a guy."

"Please," Pidge rolled her eyes, "-I'm pretty sure Keith _thrives_ off of tension."

"Nobody thrives off tension, Pidge." Hunk said. "They just learn to live with it."

Pidge just frowned, looking unconvinced. It wasn't apparently a point she was willing to fight him on, which was fine by him. Instead, he turned his attention back to Keith, who was staring up at him with curious eyes, wondering why he'd stopped paying attention to him. As far as Hunk saw it, there had to be _some_ kind of meaning in how attention-starved Keith was right now, and some reason that he had sought out affection in feline form back at the Garrison, before any of them knew the truth about their resident stray.

Maybe Keith was just _lonely_.

Then again, he didn't exactly know him well enough to say for sure. Maybe it didn't mean anything. Maybe it was just an effect of the pollen. Maybe Keith was perfectly fine with being alone most of the time. He didn't know, which was kind of the problem. None of them really _knew_ Keith, even now that his big secret was out in the open.

Well, he guessed Shiro did. No one knew Keith better than Shiro did.

"How mad do you think Keith's going to be with us when this stuff wears off?" Pidge asked.

That, on the other hand, was a question Hunk had the answer to.

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he avoids us for like, the next few days." Hunk admitted, humming a little as he scratched underneath Keith's chin. He had rolled off his back, and was now sitting up, a slightly more dignified posture even if he _was_ sitting like a cat.

"And yet, you're still petting him." Pidge observed, arching a brow.

"Do as I say, Pidge, not as I do."

* * *

This, Lance thought, was the moment he had been waiting for.

He had been worried when he had been given the shift after Pidge and Hunk. What if the effects of the pollen wore off before then? Sure, he _wanted_ it to wear off, but not until he had the chance to have a little fun with it. Fortunately, his worries were for naught, because Keith was still _totally_ out of it.

Thankfully, Coran had known exactly what he was talking about when he'd asked for a laser pointer.

Whistling to catch Keith's attention, the drugged out werecat's ears perked right up. He had been curled up on one of the lounge sofas, one of his weird paw feet dangling over the edge. Someone, probably Hunk, had tied that ugly mullet of his back into a ponytail, but it was already starting to slip out of the hairband. According to Pidge, it was because Keith had just shoved his face into the bowl of food goo that Hunk had given him for lunch, though regrettably, she didn't have any pictures of the event.

That was okay. He was about to have more than enough fun to make up for it.

Pulling out the laser pointer, Lance smirked, switching it on. A blue dot- because apparently Alteans were just as attached to the color blue as the Galra were to the color purple- appeared where he aimed it, just a few inches shy of Keith's current resting place. Giving it a tentative wiggle, he watched as Keith's eyes followed the dot, the tip of his tail twitching slightly.

Once he was certain he had his attention, Lance jerked the dot away- and had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from exploding into laughter when Keith leapt after it. Oh man, this was even better than he had expected. He couldn't even fight back the urge to snort as Keith moved one of his hands- paws? he was just going to call them paws- a perplexed expression on his face when he realized the dot was gone.

He didn't waste time moving it back into his line of view, Keith's ears perking up the second he noticed it. He watched it carefully this time, approaching it slowly. Lance had to hold back his laughter just to keep the dot as still as possible. He wished he'd had the forethought to record this, because Keith circling a tiny blue dot on the floor like it was some kind of prey animal was _way_ funnier than it had any right to be.

When Keith pounced, Lance moved the dot away again, leaving the werecat to yowl in protest, chasing after it. He launched himself off the sofa, clambering over it in an attempt to follow it, even throwing himself up against the wall to try and grab it as Lance darted it upwards. Hovering it just beyond Keith's reach, Lance didn't even try to fight back his laughter as the pollen-addled werecat glowered up at it, all but stalking it as he moved it across the surface of the wall.

Oh man, this was _priceless_. He should call Pidge. Or maybe Hunk.

Definitely not Shiro though. In fact, he was pretty sure Shiro would just get mad at him.

Snickering, Lance brought the dot back down into Keith's range again. He wasted no time in swiping at it, growing more and more annoyed when he just couldn't seem to catch it. His tail was puffed out, and even the hair on his head seemed like it was raised up, having completely escaped from the hairband.

Wiggling the dot along the floor, he kept snickering to himself as Keith chased it. Which in hindsight, probably wasn't the best idea.

Keith was out of it, but apparently not so out of it that he didn't realize when he was being laughed at. Coming to an abrupt halt, Keith looked at him, then back at the blue dot. Making another experimental swipe at it, his frown deepened as he ended up with the same result. Tail twitching, he turned to look back at Lance again- which honestly, should have been a warning sign.

Lance maneuvered the laser pointer so that the dot was back in front of Keith again. Though his gaze briefly flicked downwards towards it, it otherwise stayed largely fixed on Lance- and at the gleaming silver device in his hands. Something in that pollen-addled brain had clicked, putting two and two together. A low growl picked up in the back of his throat, and it was only then that Lance realized something _might_ be wrong.

If he couldn't catch his prey, then he'd have to settle for taking out the source.

"Uh, Keith, buddy?" Lance hesitantly began, recalling the way Keith had torn after him back in the jungle. "Everything okay there?"

Keith shifted slightly on his back feet- that was all the warning he got before he launched himself at Lance. A yelp escaped him as Keith slammed him to the floor, hissing lowly as he glowered down at him, his yellow eyes almost seeming to flash brighter...

...and then he carefully leaned down, plucked the laser pointer from Lance's hands with his mouth, and snapped what definitely wasn't a fragile device in two using his teeth. Spitting it out, Keith huffed, curling back up on the sofa like nothing had happened.

Lance lay there for several minutes, until he was absolutely certain Keith wouldn't try and bite his head off. The werecat watched him warily as he sat up, but made no move to do anything. His heart still pounding in his chest, Lance glanced over towards the remains of the laser pointer, already trying to think of a way to apologize to Coran for being unable to return it.

But honestly?

_Worth it._

* * *

"Are you certain this was such a good idea, Coran?"

Allura kept a wary eye on Keith even as she turned her head towards her father's advisor. He was watching her just as warily, from the other side of the room. In fact, he hadn't _stopped_ watching them ever since they had changed shifts with Lance.

Given Keith's earlier reaction to them, she had assumed that she and Coran would be left out of the watch arrangement that the paladins were setting up. In fact, she was quite certain that had been Shiro's initial intention, but Coran had gone ahead and volunteered the both of them regardless. Shiro had been about to turn them down, but Coran had insisted.

"Oh, it'll be fine!" Coran assured her. "We just need to give the lad a chance to get used to us."

Allura frowned, biting back a comment that he should be used to them already. It wasn't as if he had forgotten any of the paladins, so he likely had _some_ idea as to who they were. Enough that he should be able to trust them, at least.

"If you say so." Allura said, sounding rather unconvinced. "That still does not explain why you had Shiro bring him to the bridge."

Though she had to admit, she found some small measure of amusement in the fact that Keith was currently glowering at them from the security of the red paladin's chair. Perhaps it simply smelled like him, or perhaps he had some vague recollection of his role as a paladin. He certainly had remembered where to find his quarters and how to get there, if not necessarily how to get inside. It was reassuring to know that should he slip away from them, he was unlikely to be able to get into any locked rooms and potentially put himself in danger.

He couldn't even figure out how to leave the bridge, though he had certainly _tried_. The look of betrayal on his face when Shiro had left him here with the two of them had nearly prompted her to open it for him, but she'd managed to restrain herself.

"Thought he'd be a bit more comfortable in an open space." Coran said. "Besides, if Earth cats behave anything like Altean cats, then the more you ignore them, the more curious they become about you."

"So what do you suggest?" Allura asked. "That we just work while he stares at us? We're supposed to be keeping an eye on him, not the other way around."

"Oh, I don't think he'll get into too much trouble here." Coran said.

Allura frowned, still unconvinced. But if Coran said so... well, she supposed she just had to trust him.

Glancing over towards Keith, he met her gaze. She had to admit, part of her was fascinated by the notion that there were humans out there who could shapeshift- it was such a rare trait! There weren't many races who were capable of such a feat, so it almost felt as if they had something in common even if the manner of their shapeshifting differed.

She couldn't deny that she'd always been... _curious_ , about the paladin who had replaced her father. It still stung to think of it that way, but it was a reality that she knew she had to accept. Yet Keith had always remained distant- not just to her, but to the rest of the paladins as well. Like most of them, she had assumed he'd been simply attempting to safeguard his secret- though she failed to see how there could be an entire race of shapeshifters living on Earth in secret for so long- but he'd remained distant even after the truth came out.

She had made numerous attempts to speak with him, but most such attempts had been turned down or met with indifference. Perhaps then, she should not be so surprised that he was reacting to her this way- if this was a case of his more primal instincts taking hold, then maybe Keith had just never liked her to begin with.

She supposed she just had to accept that. Just because he was the new red paladin, didn't mean he had to _like_ her. He seemed to tolerate her at any rate, so she supposed that was the most she could ask for.

Heaving a sigh, Allura tore her gaze away. At least Coran was right about one thing- it was unlikely Keith could get himself into too much trouble. Just to be on the safe side, she locked all other exits from the bridge- especially the one that lead to the red lion's hangar. While she doubted that Keith was in the condition to fly at the moment, she didn't want to risk it. It was impossible to say just _what_ was going on in his head.

With that done, she returned to her work. She barely paid Keith any mind, assuming that Coran was keeping an eye on him, when a flash of something black caught her eye. Looking up, she noticed that Keith had left his chair, was now watching her from just beside it. His head was slightly tilted, though he looked no less wary than before.

Glancing over towards Coran, he merely pressed a finger to his lips, shaking his head. Frowning slightly, Allura cast the faintest of glances back Keith's way, before she resumed her work.

The next time she looked back towards Keith, nearly half a varga later, she almost yelped. He was much closer now, right at the edge of the control area. There was still a certain wariness to his gaze, but there was also a degree of curiosity to it. He tensed a little as their eyes met, but made no attempts to move away from her.

Shifting on her feet, Allura's gaze briefly flicked back towards Coran, who she was certain was only pretending to be too busy to notice. Looking back towards Keith, she decided to take a chance.

"...hello?"

Keith's ears perked up, but he didn't scamper away like she thought he would. He just... sat there and continued to stare at her. If she was going to be perfectly honest, it was a tad unnerving.

"Can I... can I help you with something?" Allura asked dumbly, knowing full well he couldn't understand her.

Keith tilted his head, drawing slightly closer- and then promptly leaned over and hacked up a hairball, right on her control station. Immediately afterwards, he scampered away, resuming his perch on his chair.

"Ah." Allura simply said, finding herself at a loss of words. "Coran!"

"Already on it, princess!"

* * *

Barring a few minor mishaps, the day had passed... well, maybe not smoothly, but it hadn't turned out to be a _total_ disaster. Even if Keith _had_ attempted to eat one of the mice, and then one of Pidge's caterpillars. He'd thankfully been convinced to spit them out both times, and now both groups of animals were giving the Shifter a wide berth.

It still could have gone worse. A _lot_ worse.

By the time evening- or at least, evening as indicated by the Castleship's systems- rolled around, there hadn't been any signs of improvement. There hadn't been any indications that Keith was getting worse either, for which Shiro was grateful- but he couldn't shake the gnawing anxiety that maybe Coran was wrong, and that maybe this _wouldn't_ wear off on its own. Granted, he had no proof of that, and it wasn't exactly so much a hunch as it was a paranoid fear, but...

A loud yowl of protest from Keith broke off that thought. He was staring up at him, his eyes transfixed on his hand- the hand that had stopped stroking his ear. Heaving a slight sigh, Shiro returned to doing just that. It was kind of funny- he couldn't actually remember Keith ever being quite so demanding about affection. Usually he tried to avoid it.

He tried not to read too much into it. None of them knew exactly what the full extent of the pollen's effects was on Keith, and they probably wouldn't until he snapped out of it. That said, knowing how Keith had reacted back when Adam had given him the catnip tea, he'd be surprised if he was willing to talk about it all- he'd never brought the incident back up after that.

He'd probably agree to a scan, but beyond that...

Keith yawned, dozing off again. Shiro yawned too, as if it was some kind of infection. In spite of his surprisingly relaxing mid-morning nap, he was exhausted. Today had taken a lot out of him.

"Okay," Shiro said, "-time for bed."

Keith blinked his eyes open, peering up at him with a frown as he got up. Ruffling his hair, Shiro yawned again, pausing to stretch. Surely Keith would be just fine if he left him in his room overnight.

Although... looking around, Shiro frowned. When he'd changed Keith out of his armor and into more comfortable clothes, he'd left his belt lying on the table, seeing as it would just get in the way of his tail. He'd noticed then that his knife wasn't in its usual place in its sheath, but he hadn't been able to find it. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of leaving Keith alone in here with it.

"Keith, where's-?" Shiro absently began, before looking down at Keith. Shoulders slumping, he huffed slightly. "Right. You probably wouldn't know."

He didn't exactly like the idea of snooping around his room, but...

Well, he couldn't let Keith get hurt.

Poking through Keith's things, Shiro frowned, wondering where he'd hidden the knife- and for that matter, _why_ he'd hidden it. Usually Keith brought it everywhere he went, even on missions. But it hadn't been in its usual hiding place when he'd checked his armor earlier, which meant it had to be somewhere in the room. He knew Keith trained with it sometimes, but it wasn't like him to just leave it behind on the training deck. Whatever the knife was, it seemed important to him.

He was just about to check underneath Keith's pillow when the Shifter crossed the room in a flash. Firmly placing one of his pawed hands on it, he hissed at him, his ears pinned back, the fur on his tail puffed up. Jerking his hand back, Shiro reflexively took a step back, holding up his hands so that Keith could see them.

Guess he'd found the knife.

"It's okay," Shiro slowly began, "-I promise I'll give it back."

Keith just continued to hiss, watching him warily. He clearly didn't want him to take the knife, and somehow, Shiro didn't think that this was a fight he could win. He would just have to think of another approach. Could he lure Keith out of the room and take it then? Probably, but the idea didn't sit well with him. It just felt like he would be taking advantage of Keith's... somewhat limited facilities.

Maybe it would just be easier to settle him down for the night somewhere else. Safer, too.

"Alright, you win." Shiro conceded. "I promise I won't take the knife."

Keith's hissing died back a bit, leaving Shiro to wonder if he'd actually understood him this time. Maybe that was a sign that his condition was starting to improve- or maybe there was just something in his tone that Keith was able to pick up on. He didn't know.

What he _did_ know was that he had an idea.

* * *

"Wow, never thought I'd see the day where you called us all over for a sleepover."

Shiro cracked a faint smile at Lance, the blue paladin already making himself comfortable on one of the lounge's couches. "Believe it or not, I've been known to have fun on occasions too."

Lance flushed. "I didn't mean-!"

"He's just teasing you, Lance." Pidge observed, fluffing up her pillow a little before she slumped back on it, her laptop resting against her knees. "You shouldn't take him seriously."

"How was I supposed to know Shiro had a sense of humor?" Lance grumbled- but it was clear it was something of a joke.

"It's okay, I get it." Shiro said, holding up his hands. "I'm an old man, nobody expects me to be making jokes."

"Practically a geezer." Pidge agreed.

Shiro just huffed slightly, taking a spot on the floor near Hunk, but leaving some room in between them. Patting the floor, he looked over towards Keith, who had been watching them all curiously from just beyond the ring of couches.

"Well don't just sit there," Shiro said, "-come on."

Ears perking up, Keith slowly approached the group. He was warier than he expected, though the bulk of his gaze was directed towards Lance. Based on how frazzled he'd looked when he'd come to collect Keith from him, it wasn't hard to guess that the blue paladin had attempted something... _ill-advised_ , to say the least. He just hadn't asked what.

Wedging himself between Shiro and Hunk, Keith pawed at the blankets that the yellow paladin had laid out. There was a pillow too, but he largely ignored it, instead focusing on kneading the sheets, an intent expression his face.

"Aw," Hunk squealed, not even attempting to hide his delight, "-he's making biscuits!"

Lance just snorted. "I can't believe it took mullet getting drugged out of his mind for us to have a group sleepover."

"Says the person who let him get drugged out of his mind." Pidge observed.

"Uh, I didn't _let_ him." Lance said. "I'll have you know I saved his life."

"And we're very grateful for that." Shiro said honestly. "I'm sure Keith is too."

"I'm not even sure he noticed." Lance rolled his eyes. "Heck, I'm pretty sure the only thing he cared about was that stupid flower that was the source of all this. I am _so_ never going back to that planet."

Yawning, Keith circled once, before he curled up on the blankets. His tail twitched a bit, before it settled down too, curled up around him. He was asleep within seconds.

"Wow," Hunk observed, his voice soft, "-guess he must be tired."

"How can he be tired?" Lance asked. "He's been napping like, all day."

"He's a cat." Hunk observed. "Cats sleep a lot."

"He's not a cat, Hunk." Pidge said. "I mean, he _is_ , but he's not a _real_ cat. Except when he is, I guess, but even then-"

Huffing slightly, she scowled at the sleeping Shifter. "This would all be a lot easier if he had just answered my questions in the first place."

"We talked about this." Shiro said, glancing up at her with a warning look. He knew she meant well, but sometimes her curiosity meant that she could get a bit carried away. "If Keith doesn't feel comfortable answering questions, he doesn't have to."

"I know." Pidge grumbled. "But it's still frustrating. There's so much I want to know."

"And it's okay to feel frustrated." Shiro told her. "But from now on, maybe you should let Keith come to you."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Lance huffed. "Keith's elevated being enigmatic into an art form."

Shiro frowned slightly. He wanted to dispute that, but Lance did sort of have a point. Even he had to admit that Keith had been keeping his distance from the other paladins a little more than he liked. He'd assumed he was just getting used to them, but maybe he should have a word with him about it in the future.

"I think he's just shy." Hunk said.

"Not the word I would have picked, but okay." Lance said, arching a brow.

"I mean... he's a cat, right?" Hunk asked. "Cats aren't like dogs."

"An astute observation." Pidge said.

Hunk just huffed slightly, giving the green paladin a slight look before he continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted. "They're social, but they're social in their own way. I'm pretty sure if Keith hated us, he would have avoided us all today and just stuck to Shiro."

"Hunk's right." Shiro said, giving the yellow paladin a small smile. "Keith's not... he's not great at expressing himself. I _do_ think he wants to get to know the three of you better," and Allura and Coran, who had declined his invitation, perhaps wisely, "-but he just doesn't know how to go about it. You have to understand, he's spent most of his life having to hide who he is. Aside from Adam and myself, he's never had anyone to confide in."

Pidge frowned, her brows knitting together. "What about his parents? Can't he confide in them?"

Shiro stiffened. He hadn't realized up until that point that the other paladins might not know Keith was an orphan. He'd thought...

"Keith doesn't-" Shiro stopped himself short, because he _did_ have family. He had him- plus Adam, who he was sure had kept looking after Keith even after their breakup.

"Wait," Hunk began slowly, seeming to catch his drift, "-is Keith an orphan?"

A hushed silence fell over the room. Ironically, the only one who seemed unperturbed by it was the person in question, who was still fast asleep.

"His father died when he was young." Shiro said. "I don't know a lot about his mother, other than that she's never really been in the picture. He was in the foster system for years before Adam and I became his unofficial guardians."

"Oh," Lance whispered, staring down at the floor, "-I didn't... I didn't know."

"Yeah, I thought-" Hunk began, staring down at Keith's sleeping form. "I guess that explains why he doesn't know much about Shifters."

Pidge frowned, staring down at her laptop, her fingers frozen in place. Behind the glint of her glasses, he could make out an expression of guilt. "It didn't occur to me that he just didn't _know_."

"It's not something he likes to talk about." Shiro said. "Just give him time. I'm sure he'll come around."

"Yeah," Lance slowly began, "-yeah, I guess maybe we should."

In his sleep, Keith purred.

* * *

Yawning, Keith slowly blinked awake. He didn't remember falling asleep, but he felt better than he had in days, ever since they'd met Ulaz. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, his nights plagued with bad dreams. But for once, he actually felt refreshed, if not slightly cramped. His bed seemed a little harder than he remembered it...

Something clicked, and his memories came back with a jolt, his eyes snapping open. He had been on a mission with Lance, when they had been ambushed by one of the creatures that Coran had warned them about. He'd taken a hit, and then...

Unfortunately, the rest of his memories came back just as quickly. Now fully awake, Keith jerked up into an awkward sitting position, his brain wanting to do one thing while his body wanted to do another. It took him a second to realize that his joints had all shifted, even as he stared down at one of his own paw-like hands. Memories kept coming back without mercy, causing him to turn a bright shade of crimson, as he recalled breathing in the pollen and the exact effect it had had on him.

And he thought drinking catnip tea had been embarrassing.

Face still bright red, he drew in a breath, trying to steady himself. First he had to shift- either back into a human, or all the way into a cat, but for a second, his thoughts were too scrambled to figure out which would be better. He didn't know what was more embarrassing- getting tangled up in wires, or chasing after a laser pointer, or the fact that he had bent over backwards for affection- when he wasn't hacking up hairballs in front of Allura or trying to eat one of her mice.

He'd done all of that. Oh god.

Forget shifting, right now he just wanted to slink off somewhere and _die_.

"Keith?" Shiro's tired voice broke his thoughts, the black paladin cracking one eye open. "What's wrong?"

Opening his mouth to reply, he didn't get the chance. Shiro propped himself up on his elbows, pushing himself up into a sitting position. The lounge was dark, dark enough that it probably hide both his flustered expression and the redness of his cheeks.

"Hey, bud." Shiro smiled softly at him, absently reaching out to scratch underneath his chin. "It's still pretty early. Why don't we go back to sleep?"

Ducking his head, Keith quickly realized that Shiro _hadn't_ realized he was back in his right mind. Seized with embarrassment, all Keith could do was meekly lie back down, unable to confess that the pollen's effects had worn off, and he was back in complete control of himself.

Shiro just hummed softly, stroking his head. To Keith's further embarrassment, he heard himself purr in response, enjoying the sensation. It had been awhile since he'd had anyone pet him, not since Adam's occasional scratches...

Except that wasn't actually true, since he had been pet _a lot_ today. All of which he had shamelessly asked for. Still, this wasn't... this wasn't that bad, he caught himself thinking, almost leaning into it. Maybe the pollen hadn't worn off as completely as he'd thought.

His thoughts _did_ feel a little bit scrambled still. He'd apparently been under the impression that something was wrong, even while under the effects of the pollen, but he'd just thought it was the fact that his body was bigger than he was used to. Now he knew it was because his feline instincts were leading him around by the nose, and they were still sort of trying to convince his human brain that they were in charge. He wasn't too worried- it was just a lingering effect, nothing more.

In fact, he was almost positive that come morning, he'd be completely back to normal. Which couldn't come soon enough, he thought, reflecting back on the day's events. Burying his face in his blankets, Keith shut his eyes, wondering if it would be better for him to just pretend he'd gone back to sleep.

Shiro smiled, lying back down next to him. Hunk was curled up on his other side, and Pidge and Lance were fast asleep on either side of the couch. There was something about the sound of their breathing that was almost calming, and before he knew it, he felt the held tension in his body wash out.

Maybe... maybe it would be okay to stay like this for just a little longer. It had been awhile since he'd gotten a full night's sleep... who was to say he'd get another chance? Ulaz had raised so many questions, questions that he wasn't sure he even wanted the answers to, even if some part of him knew he needed them.

" _Oh_ ," unbidden, the voice of his distant cousin, name long forgotten if he'd ever known it, came back to him, "- _you're the_ _ **freak**_ _._ "

Just a little while longer, Keith thought to himself, curling back up.

* * *

He still woke before anyone else, fully shifting all the way into a cat and scampering off. It took a full week for Shiro to coax him out of the vents. If it hadn't been for the distress call on Olkarion, he probably would have stayed in them longer.

And then, of course, there just wasn't any time left to hide. Not from the paladins- or from the truth.


End file.
